It's a festive phenomenon that saves youngsters money and keeps Mum and Dad in the technological loop.

This Christmas saw the rise of the ‘hand-me-up’ gift – when children pass on the still-desirable, hi-tech gadgets they don’t want any more to their parents.

A survey found over a quarter of us gave second-hand technology to our mothers and fathers.

Hand-me-up: A generation of parents have 'inherited' discarded gadgets, such as smartphones and tablet devices, from their children this Christmas

The trend was even more apparent among
young adults, with nearly half of those aged 18-24 passing on used
gadgets such as smartphones, cameras, iPods and Kindle e-readers.

Of the 2,000 people questioned, the
most common reason for giving a hand-me-up was that old gadgets were
outdated (and newer ones might be sitting in Christmas stockings),
while a third said they gave such gifts because cash was tight.

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One in ten gave old smartphones to parents so they could log on to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Women buyers were more likely to pass
on an old phone to a parent, while men were more likely to give the
hand-me-ups to a friend instead.

Young adults largely chose to give
their cast-offs to their mothers. Some 44 per cent of mums received old
gadgets, compared with 28 per cent of dads.

Grandparents, however, opened more
conventional presents on Christmas Day, with just 4 per cent of
grandchildren giving hand-me-ups to that generation.

Sylvia Chind, from mobile operator
Three, which carried out the survey, said the ‘hand-me-ups’ would ‘save
time and money’, and expose older generations to more up-to-date
technology.

She said: ‘This research has found
that Brits are making the most of their older technology and connecting
Mum and Dad, siblings and friends to the mobile internet.’

Generational gap: A survey of 2,000 people revealed that more than a quarter of us gave outdated gadgets to parents as gifts over the festive season

Sales of electronic gadgets are, naturally, very high before Christmas with the market for new smartphones almost doubling in December.

Women buyers are more likely to pass on an older smartphone to a parent, with men more often giving the ‘hand-me-ups’ to a friend instead.

While much has been written in recent years about ‘silver surfing’ older people, the survey found grandparents were not particularly likely to have been given old gadgets. Just 4 per cent of people interviews said they had passed on ‘hand-me-ups’ to their grandmother or grandfather.

American youth marketing experts Buzz Marketing Group put ‘hand-me-ups’ as their fifth top trend in 2012.

Chief executive Tina Wells said: ‘The hand-me-up trend implies that the older generation is actually being exposed to newer technology faster than we had previously believed.

Recycled: Almost half of those in the 18-24 age group said they gave ‘hand-me-ups’, including smartphones and cameras, to relatives for Christmas

‘They might not be as updated [as their children] but tech-saviness is definitely being facilitated amongst Generation X and beyond.’

Previous studies have found that mobile phones are the most popular ‘hand-me-ups’, followed by mp3 players, including iPods.

In a recent survey commissioned by Intel, almost half of 502 students surveyed said they had passed on an old piece of technology to their mother or father.

Young adults are more likely to give ‘the hand-me-ups’ to their mothers than their fathers, though.

44 per cent of mothers said they had received the old gadgets, compared to 28 per cent of fathers.

Sylvia Chind, Head of Devices at Three said the ‘hand-me-ups’ would ‘save family and friends time and money’.

She added: ‘Christmas is a time for giving and this research has found that Brits are making the most of their older technology and connecting Mum and Dad, siblings and friends to the mobile internet.’